Reloading ammo

[hutchman]

My buddy and I spent most of yesterday setting up the Hornady AP press and adjusting dies. I still has a little quirk of not fully indexing to full position occasionally. It does perfect without a shell in the shell holder and never misses a beat but put in a shell and about 1 out of 4 pulls on the handle will be a bit out of place on the shell holder. I really have to keep an eye on it to keep from crushing a shell. I think I finally got the primer feed to working right (most of the time). Still got a few bugs to work out but at least finally made 50 rounds of good ammo.
Thanks to YouTube for showing me how to adjust the shell plate pawl as I didn't find anything in the manual on how to do it.

There are these little Alan screws in the paw. A little goes a long way and you can't move the handle slow and expect it to jump in the detent while adjusting it ... it never will. You have to adjust it while moving the handle up/down at normal loading speed.
I've had a few out of spec shell plates before. You should have about 3 thousands clearance under the shellplate or else the shell plate will drag and not snap to the spring detent holes. Also sometimes those shell plates will have detent too high or low. You can adjust their height wacking them with hammer and punch to tweak them to your liking.

 

[Soundguy]

Way glad I have single stage and turret with manual index.

Always lined up, every time!

 

[hutchman]

My buddy and I spent most of yesterday setting up the Hornady AP press and adjusting dies. I still has a little quirk of not fully indexing to full position occasionally. It does perfect without a shell in the shell holder and never misses a beat but put in a shell and about 1 out of 4 pulls on the handle will be a bit out of place on the shell holder. I really have to keep an eye on it to keep from crushing a shell. I think I finally got the primer feed to working right (most of the time). Still got a few bugs to work out but at least finally made 50 rounds of good ammo.
Thanks to YouTube for showing me how to adjust the shell plate pawl as I didn't find anything in the manual on how to do it.

I downloaded the latest LNL AP manual from Hornady and the part that deals with the paws in on page 18 in a section called "Adjusting the Auto Advance Mechanism". Should of also been talked about on the DVD that came with the press.

You said without a shell is index fine but with a shell you experience problems .... is it possible you have an extruded primer? I have a pistol that will allow the primer to flow and extrude into a bowl shape when fired and those cause me problems sometimes as they drag from where the shell is inserted over to station one where they get deprimed.

Also, if you haven't seen it recommended yet, get you a lock washer for the shell plate bolt. It helps keep the bolt from backing off (you don't want it real tight, just good and snug) and allowing the shell plate to tilt which could cause feeding problems.

 

[Gary Fowler]

This is with new Starbright brass, no primer, shell plate and base completely clear of any powder, etc. On this machine, if the primer is not fully seated, you cant move the lever, it locks up everything.
I adjusted the pawl till it indexed perfect without a shell. Now I will loosen it up a bit more till it indexes with a complete round of brass. Hopefully this will cure that problem. Finding a cure for the sometimes missing primer is a bit harder.

 

[hutchman]

Finding a cure for the sometimes missing primer is a bit harder.

Yea, I have that problem too but that is the nut behind the handle and that one is a little harder to fix! At least once per reloading session I get interrupted, space out or something and forget to push the handle forward to seat a primer and the clue is usually powder in the bin or elsewhere and then I have to go look for the cart with the missing primer! I've actually been thinking of ways I can dummy proof that too so when I do it something beeps at me or something.

 

[dodge man]

Another tip, if you are loading for a semi auto, make a few rounds and then fire the weapon. It would suck to make several hundred rounds and find out they are to light of a load or some other problem and won't cycle correctly.

 

[k0ua]

Another tip, if you are loading for a semi auto, make a few rounds and then fire the weapon. It would suck to make several hundred rounds and find out they are to light of a load or some other problem and won't cycle correctly.

Always good advice for any new load work up. How do they cycle?. how do they eject? All in a nice pile 6 foot to the rear and right? How do the fired primers look? Was the crimp tight enough to prevent setback on the feed ramp? When you chrono them, where they reasonably consistent?. if everything looks/feels good, and there are no more questions in your mind, start pulling on the handle (consistently and repeatedly)

 

[davrow]

I like my Hornady AP LNL, I think you'll be happy with yours after you get those bugs worked out. I only load one caliber (44-40 for cowboy) and only use one powder, Trailboss. Very easy to load plenty for matches and practice and keep it all uniform. Love that Trailboss fluffy powder. :thumbsup:

 

[hutchman]

Love that Trailboss fluffy powder. :thumbsup:

... it's good for quite a few subsonic rifle rounds too!

 

[Soundguy]

... it's good for quite a few subsonic rifle rounds too!

I use it to make bunny fart loads for large rifle calibers to make it fun to plink with. ( 458 win mag, 416 rigby, 375 Holland, etc )